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JR DIVISION GUMBALL RALLY @ INDUSTRY – By Tim Kennedy
Industry, CA., Feb. 23 – The Gumball Rally, one of two premier events for AMA Junior Division speedway bike events each year, took place Sunday afternoon at Industry Speedway in the Grand Arena. The event was not held last year because the busy Industry Hills Expo Center could not provide a date for the event. The annual Silver Cup event for junior riders at Industry Speedway has been run each year uninterrupted since 2013.
Racing Director Kelly Inman addressed nine 250cc, eleven 150cc, and nine 50cc pee-wee division riders. He said $9,200 had been donated by more than 60 individuals and companies this year for distribution to the 29 junior racers. Eighteen of the riders live in So Cal and 11 towed south from Nor Cal. The entire purse for the adult Gumball Rally Saturday night was donated towards the Sunday Gumball Rally to help develop speedway riders of the future.
A total of 28 races were run between 12:40 and 2:35 pm. Grandstand admission was free for spectators and about 200 witnessed the action. Winners of the three main events received a coveted gumball machine filled with gumballs. They also received envelopes containing checks to help finance their racing. Second and third finishers in the three divisions received Gumball Rally plaques. All riders received gift bags containing various gifts, including a mini-gumball machine filled with gumballs.
GUMBALL CHAMPS: The three 2020 champions were: Hudson Jones, 4, in only his fifth race on a 50cc mount. He is the son of perennial sidecar champion Joe Jones, of Costa Mesa. His eager to race son started from lane two and led all four laps in the four rider main. The lineup was based on points accrued during four rounds of heats. All eight riders raced in each heat. One rider had a mechanical failure and did not race.
Mini 150cc Final: Nick Hohlbein, 11, from Auburn, started from pole position and led all four laps. The four rider event consisted of four Nor Cal riders who all scored ten points and tied for high-point honors during four rounds of heat racing.
Junior 250cc “Richie VanderMeeden Final”: Alex Martin, 15, from Salinas, capped a perfect day by winning all four competitive 250cc heats to score the maximum 12-points. He shot from pole position and led all four laps on his new 250cc bike built by his father Steve, a speedway rider until 1991. Alex also won the mini 150cc first division Gumball Rally at Industry on February 21, 2016. The 2020 event honored a late 19-year old 250cc rider in 2015-16. The Rocklin resident passed away on October 29, 2019.
Pee-Wee riders ranged in age from four to nine, with six of the nine pee-wees making their debuts at Industry. Points (eight to one) were awarded in four heats. Newcomer Duke Makarevich, 6, from Huntington Beach, won all four heats to total 32 points. Hudson Jones finished second in all four heats to earn 28 points. Newcomer Solomon Stern, 5, from San Diego, finished third in all four rounds to tally 24 points. Final main event rider Karl Hancock, son of four-time Speedway World Champion Greg Hancock, scored 19 points.
Jones (No. 15) led all four laps over Makarevich (No. 65), Stern (No. 55) and Hancock (No. 17) in the first of three features. Hohlbein (No. 3) beat fellow Nor Cal rider Colton Nelson, 12, and a pair of ten year old So Cal riders--Levi Leutz, the reigning150cc AMA National Champion, and Jose Navarette, who won three of his four heats, as did Hohlbein. Nelson and Leutz both won two of their four heat races. Other heat race winners were So Cal rider Owen Williams,12, and newcomer Jameson Ferris, 9, from Placerville.
250cc Main: Martin, 15, led the first lap narrowly in a tight three-rider pack with Wilbur Hancock, 14, and Slater Lightcap, 14. challenging for the lead at his back wheel. Hancock, son of the four-time World Champion, drifted high on lap 3 in the third and fourth turns. Lightcap shot under him and took second. Martin beat Lightcap by four lengths, with Hancock two lengths in back of Lightcap. Nor Cal's Landon Collins, 14, was fourth, five lengths behind Hancock.
As with the 150cc feature winner, Martin stopped at turn three after a victory lap. Crews rushed from the pits and gave both riders the traditional three tosses into the air to salute their impressive victories. Dad Steve Martin said twin brother Sterling and his mom were home in Salinas watching on the internet as Alex became undefeated in his five races Sunday.
Catherine Moore, 14, from Carmichael, raced a 250cc for the first time. She raced as a pee-wee years ago. She used one of her brother Greg Moore's No. 51 bikes as No. 123. She scored no points but improved in each of her four races. Greg, 16, and her dad Glenn were in the pits assisting. Greg, with his broken femur encased in a compression cast, was still using crutches after falling last season at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn. He already has a 500cc bike and plans to race as a 500cc rookie.
At the post-racing awards ceremony on the pit podium near the fourth turn track entrance everyone sang Happy Birthday to hard-working Racing Director Kelly Inman. He celebrated his 52nd birthday Friday. All track officials worked both Saturday and Sunday events.
The next AMA speedway racing event at Industry will be the 6th annual Connor Penhall Memorial Cup event on Wednesday, May 27. It is the first of 13 race dates through August 22—the 45th annual AMA California State Championship event.
POINTS SUMMARIES:
Pee-Wee: 32 pts-Duke Makarevich; 28-Hudson Jones; 24-Solomon Stern; 19-Karl Hancock; 17-Jenson Horn; 11-Bear Brill,; 9-Ryder Manzares; 3-Rosie Russell; did not race Braden Kemmerly.
Mini 150cc: Four riders tied with 10 pts-Nick Hohlbein, Levi Leutz; Jose Navarette, and Colton Nelson; 8-Owen Williams; 7-Jameson Ferris; 6-Ken Matsudaira; 4-Max Anderson; 3-Nick Dunn and Ryder Schulz; 0-Caden Cavrikas-DNS.
250cc: 12 pts-Alex Martin; 11-Willbur Hancock; 10-Slater Lightcap; l7-Landon Collins; 5-Charlie Trana and Dylan Wagner; 2-Justin Almon and Andrew Russell; 0-Catherine Moore.
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